New research finds that the majority of American homes are now using audio streaming services. Findings from market-research firm Park Associates reveal that while 40% of households are currently using a free service, 26% subscribe to a paid service.

The research additionally found an impressive lead in the paid streaming space with leader Amazon Prime Music at 10% of users, while only 4% subscribed to Spotify Premium. Park Associates also predicted streaming revenues will continue to climb globally at a very steep pace for years to come.

The three major labels filed suit this week almost immediately following the alpha launch of Aurous -a new music streaming application. Universal, Sony, and Warner allege “blatant copyright infringement” while accusing the application of pulling music from websites offering pirated music and allowing users to stream directly from BitTorrent. A written statement from the RIAA stated “it is neither licensed nor legal. We will not allow such a service to willfully trample the rights of music creators.” UPDATE: On Thursday, the court issued a restraining order against Aurous.

Trial proceedings have begun this week in the highly-publicized copyright infringement case against Jay-Z and Timbaland for the use of a sample in their 1999 hit “Big Pimpin’”. In one of America’s longest running lawsuits, the heirs of Baligh Hamdi allege that Jay-Z’s song violates rights to Hamdi’s 1957 “Khosara Khosara”. Attorneys for Jay-Z and Timbaland insist they secured the rights and paid for usage of the sample. Originally recorded sixteen years ago, “Big Pimpin’’ received recent recognition when Rolling Stone called the song “one of the 500 greatest songs of all time”.

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